Not sure if these forums are even active anymore, but I thought I'd try to contribute something to the discussion.

So, as most of you probably know by now, Star Wars: Rebels has premiered already. First there was the hour long premiere movie, Spark of Rebellion, and then the actual first episode premiered the week after. It is on the channel Disney XD and new episodes premiere on Mondays at 9:00 PM.

I'm curious, if you guys have seen it, what do you think of it? I thought it was a pretty solid start so far. At this point, we know that the first season will have sixteen episodes, and that Disney has already approved it for a second season. I'm pretty sure that Rebels is in good hands. The same people who worked on the Clone Wars are working on it.

Also, a few weeks before the Spark of Rebellion movie premiered, a few shorts had been released, each involving a different member of the crew from Rebels. If you want to watch them, here they are. They will probably give you a feel for how the show will be like. I'd suggest to watch them before watching Rebels, as they kind of tie into the story of the show.

Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."

So, with Season One of Star Wars Rebels now over, I'm wondering, what did you guys think of it if you saw it? I thought it was pretty solid. This show could potentially end up being better than the new movies that are coming out, like how some of the stuff in the Clone Wars turned out being better than the Prequels. I love this show now. At times it harkened back to the Clone Wars, and at other times, it felt like something straight out of Knights of the Old Republic. There are also so many references to the former Expanded Universe. You can tell the creators loved the former EU and are trying to preserve as much of it as possible.

That ending too:

[spoiler]HOLY CRAP! Ashoka is Fulcrum! I had a feeling that she might show up in Rebels, but I didn't think it would be that soon.

At first I was thinking that Fulcrum might be Gal Travis, but then that theory was shot down when Travis turned out to be a traitor. Then I began to think that Bail Organa was Fulcrum, and at the very end when he came to help them, I was almost sure of it, but then everything did a complete 180 when Ashoka just showed up.[/spoiler]

After that ending, I am so hyped for Season Two. I'm really interested to learn more about Sabine and her Mandolrian past too.

Also, if any of you would like to watch it, I found a place that has all the episodes so far.

Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."

Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."

I'm wondering, has anyone seen any of Season 2 yet? It premiered two weeks ago, and so far some familiar faces have returned. What do you guys think of it so far? The newest trailer was particularly interesting, especially the part hinting at something in Sabine's Mandalorian past.

Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."

I have a feeling this second season will be much better than the first.

[spoiler]

I find it interesting how it was implied that Rex might have some sort of Mandalorian connections. It seems that some remnant of the old canon of Karen Traviss' Mandalorians still remains. Seriously, how does Rex know about those "hidden Mandalorian bases"? Also, it was good to finally find out what happened to clone commando Gregor. I'm glad he survived. I wonder if he still has his armor though?

I also loved that scene in the trailer where Sabine says "I'm of Clan Wren, of House Visla, and I seek justice through single combat" and she was getting ready to duel that person. The old school Mandalorians are back.

Btw, is Sabine's last name Wren a name we've heard before in the old stories about Mandalorians, particularly in the RC books? That name sounds so familiar, but when I checked Wookieepeda, nothing came up. Could she be related to someone we know?[/spoiler]

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Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."

[spoiler]From what I know, a clan and a house are two different things that aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. The definition might not always be clear, and can vary greatly, but at times, in real life, the definition of a clan is a large group of people whose connection to each other is that they share some kind of common ancestor from the distant past, whether that relation may be real or perceived by the people of that clan, so they might not always be related by blood. People in a clan could have almost no blood relation to each other whatsoever, and that they just happen to have the same ancestor from thousands of years ago. Like for example, if there's a Fett clan during the Galactic Civil War era, but none of its members are even remotely related to each other, but their only connection is that their ancestor 4000 years ago was Casus Fett, whose descendants had branched off very far and made their own families that became less and less related to each other over time.

A house on the other hand is like an actual family, composed of people who are more closely related by blood. The members of a clan all have their own individual families, which would be their house. So basically, Sabine's clan is Wren, meaning the people of that clan share so kind of connection through a distant ancestor, maybe someone named Wren, and her actual family is House Vizla. That means that she has some kind of direct blood relation to Pre Vizla and possibly even Tor Vizla. House Vizla could have married into Clan Wren at some point in the past. What if Sabine's mother is Bo Katen? We don't really know much about her, or what her clan was. Her father's side might have been Vizlas and her mother's side might have been Wrens.

[/spoiler]

« Last Edit: March 09, 2016, 09:35:57 PM by Commander Dimal »

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Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."

This might be a bit late, but in one of those after show episode things called Rebels Recon (something that the creative team always puts out after each episode new premieres, giving us extra information and insight) it cleared up the whole thing with the Mandalorian houses and clans. They explained the whole Mandalorian hierarchy as it stands at the time of The Clone Wars and Rebels and in the new canon in general.

At the very top is the ruler of Mandalore, (which I'm assuming is where the actual Mandalore figure that we are all familiar with would fit in). Next is the royal guard/special forces of the ruler of Mandalore, who are known as the Protectors (I guess the Journeyman Protectors fall into this group). After that comes all of the Houses, which are all of the important families that serve under the ruler of Mandalore, who are basically the nobles I guess (House Vizla and House Kryze where Satine came from all fall into this group). Next come all of the clans, which serve under the houses and make up a majority of the Mandalorians (this is where Clan Wren, Clan Fett, and Clan Ordo would fit in).

On the topic of Mandalorians, has anyone seem the episode Protector of Concord Dawn? I loved that episode. It was Mandalorian focused and re-canonized many of the things about Mandalorians from the old canon, such as the fact that Mandalorians helped train the clones, and the history of Concord Dawn, and some possible references to the Mandalorian Wars. I loved the part where Sabine called out Fen Rau of the Protectors for an honor duel; they were acting like the proper Mandalorians that we all know and love from the old Expanded Universe.

Also, did anyone see the latest episode Shroud of Darkness? Oh man was it good. This episode is where Rebels has finally crossed the threshold from being just another kid's show into being a darker, more mature, and interesting series that we can enjoy and appreciate, just like how The Clone Wars did in its later seasons. So much stuff from the old canon was brought back and referenced as well, especially stuff from the Old Republic era.

Possibly the biggest reference that almost made we spit my drink out was the mention of Malachor and the role it will play. More and more things from KOTOR II have been referenced in this new season. I will probably have a heart attack if they ever start talking about Revan and the Mandalorian Wars.

The season two mid-season trailer came out a few months ago. Check it out for yourselves and get a taste of what's in store. If you like what you see, then it might make you interested in watching the show, if you've been putting it off because of how kiddy it seemed at first. The Clone Wars started out the same way, and look how it turned out.

Notice the part where Asoka says: "There's always a bit of truth in Legends". That's almost like the creators are directly talking to the fans and saying that stuff from the old Expanded Universe (which is now called Legends) will be used and incorporated into the show.

Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."

I continue to follow Rebels as soon as it comes out. I absolutely LOVED the first season. The introduction of the new characters, the gradually growing world, and the tight plot and writing all made it an enjoyable watch.

Season 2 for me has been a bit of a letdown though, personally. While I enjoy the one-off episodes, I thought the way everything tied together so well in Season 1 set a tough precedent for Season 2 to match. I just feel like the focus hasn't been there, and a lot of the episodes have been boring and forgettable. It is great to learn more about the characters though, and there are a few standouts. Such as the Protector of Concord Dawn, The Honorable Ones, and the most recent Shroud of Darkness. And I am eagerly looking forward to the season finale! Everything that's been teased so far has me very excited!

I feel like at this point in the series, the show could benefit from more multi-episode arcs. It doesn't have to be anything as intense or committal as The Clone Wars' fixation on four-parters in its latter seasons, but I think the occasional duology or trilogy of episodes would benefit Rebels. With all these one-off episodes that Rebels has, the writing and pacing seems far too constrained. If they just had an extra 20 minutes to tell each story I think things would be more enjoyable.

I'm definitely interested in seeing how Mandalore develops though, and with the developments in The Protector of Concord Dawn, its likely that we'll be returning there soon!

I can't stand Rebels in general, honestly. They went so far with the kiddification of it, the coyote had a better chance of grabbing the roadrunner than the Imperials have of ever posing a credible threat. Doesn't feel like a rebellion on the edge of disaster, it feels like the 3 stooges chasing the A-Team.

I'm really interested in seeing what the situation is on Mandalore. Many people were kind put off by the whole New Mandalorian thing in the Clone Wars, and thought that the Mandalorians were really out of character, but that was actually only going to be a temporary thing. According to Dave Filoni, near the end of the Clone Wars, there would have been an arc where the Mandalorians of Mandalore would actually end up transitioning back into a warlike nation, and they would take up their old ways again.

I wonder if they'll be closer to how they were in the old canon now, and if maybe there's an actual Mandalore leading them now. Bo Katen could be the current Mandalore now. If that turned out to be true, it would be somewhat of a callback to Karen Traviss final book in the Republic Commando series called Imperial Commando, where during the time between Episode 3 and 4, there was apparently a female Mandalore in charge of the Mandalorians.

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Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."

I'm sure we'll get to Mandalore eventually which would be exciting. Like you said, in Rebels and some other material from Filoni there's reference to a 'Siege of Mandalore' that would have likely closed out The Clone Wars TV series, and is probably responsible for whatever fractured state Mandalore is in right now.

All signs point to them being more closely related to the EU Mandalorians. It would be cool if they brought back some of the really old Marvel comic books where Mandalorian Protectors, led by a Fenn Shysa, rebelled against an Imperial Governor. I mean Rebels reintroduced the Protectors, and made their leader a character named Fenn Rau. So it's a possibility.

I wonder if Fenn Rau and Fenn Shysa are related? Some groups of Mandalorians might have different naming rules, kind of like how in Japanese the last name is said first, so then Fenn could actually be a last name perhaps? Clans and family seem to be very important to Mandalorians, so it makes sense that they would want people to know their clan name first. Maybe in their own language, they would say their last names first, but when translated into Basic, it is reversed?

Another little nuance I've noticed with the Clone Wars and Rebels is that even though each Mandalorian forges their own armor and customizes it, each clan and group seems to have a similar color scheme and pattern, like how all the Death Watch members had roughly the same color patterns, or how all of Fenn Rau's Protectors had the same colors on their armor. Even though most customize them, there does seem to be some degree of regulation in what colors they put on their armor.

On another note, I have a theory on who Sabine's mother might be. Dave Filoni had said that he's very certain that Sabine's mother was one of the Death Watch members in the throne room when Darth Maul killed Pre Visla. I believe that she is Rook Kast, Pre Visla's second in command. She does kind of look like Sabine, especially in the Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic. I wonder if she is by any chance related to Jodo Kast, a Mandalorian from one of the old Marvel comics that at one point impersonated Boba Fett (which Fett did not take to kindly to). So her last name is actually Kast and not Visla. That would make her of clan Kast. So it seems that the clan represents a Mandaloran's family and blood ties, while their House represents their loyalties and allegiances.

Does anyone remember Shae Vizla from The Old Republic video game trailers? A lot of people think that she was Pre Visla's ancestor, because Pre Visla said that his ancestors stole the darksaber from the Jedi Temple, and Shae just so happens to be a Mandalorian named Vizla that participated in an attack on the Jedi Temple in the days of the Old Republic. She could have been the one that stole the darksaber. The main reason I've seen why some people don't want to support this theory is because her last name Vizla is spelled differently from Visla, which honestly, I don't see why this would be considered an issue. This was likely just a mistake, though a possible in universe reason I can think of that would explain this difference is that since Shae Vizla and Pre Visla lived about 3000 years apart from each other, in that time, the spelling of their last name could have changed. In real life, the spellings of last names often change over time, so I don't see why the same can't be true in Star Wars. I think that adds an element of realism to it.

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Durge: "You know, it's been over a century since I killed a Jedi… and today, I'll get to kill four of you. Add that to the Gungans I already murdered, the hostages I'm going to kill later, and all the Naboo who will die tomorrow, and it's a damn good week."